You will be asked to submit two pieces of written work in English, marked by your teachers, by mid-November, usually normal school work done as part of your course. Please keep a copy of the work you submit,since you may well be asked about it in the course of the interview process. If you foresee any problems with the written work, please get in touch with a Classics tutor at your first choice college or, if you are making an open application, with the Faculty’s Admissions Co-ordinator.
You should normally submit two pieces of work, each of up to 2,000 words in length. Where there is no suitable alternative, pieces of work longer than 2,000 words will be acceptable, providing that a selection of c. 2,000 words is clearly indicated as the part on which you wish to be judged. You should, however, consult a Classics tutor at your first choice college or, if you are making an open application, the Faculty’s Admissions Co-ordinator before submitting a piece of written work in excess of 2,000 words.
The tutors are looking for:
- an overview of how you write
- clear expression
- the use of evidence to construct an argument
Where possible, your written work should be in an area relevant to Classics, and if you are studying Latin, Greek, Classical Civilisation or Ancient History it would make sense to submit a piece of work written for one of those subjects. Ultimately, however, tutors are more interested in how you write in general, and a piece of work written for another subject such as History or English could also be a good choice, especially, of course, if you are not studying a Classical subject at school.
The pieces of work should preferably not be short, timed essays or exercises answering questions on a short passage of text. Please do not send translations or creative writing. You are reminded that all written work must be in English: if your work was originally written in another language (usually this will be if you are at school in a non-English speaking country), please submit both the original work and your own translation into English.
You are requested to scan all of your written work (including the official coversheet, signed by the teacher) into a multi-page pdf file (one pdf for each piece of written work submitted) and send it by email to colleges’ admissions offices, as well as sending the (original) hard copies of the work.
